For Michelangelo, Painting The Sistine Chapel Was Literally A Pain (Cool Weird Awesome 963)

Today in 1475 Michelangelo was born. One of his masterworks was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, though if a poem he wrote about the job is to be believed, making all that great art was pretty painful. Plus: a series of portraits of every US president with a mullet.

By |2024-03-06T09:10:08-05:00March 6, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

Before There Were Big Car Sales On Presidents Day, There Were Big Bicycle Sales (Cool Weird Awesome 953)

Today is the observance of President's Day, originally a holiday marking the February 22nd birthday of George Washington, but along the way it also became known as Bicycle Day.

By |2024-02-20T09:06:08-05:00February 20, 2023|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

The Grandson Of A President From The 1840s Is Alive In The 2020s (Cool Weird Awesome 743)

Today is the birthday President John Tyler. He was born in 1790, and he served as US president in the 1840s. And he has a grandson who is alive in 2022.

By |2022-03-29T09:18:43-04:00March 29, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

When A Raccoon Lived At The White House (Cool Weird Awesome 470)

Champ and Major are the new White House dogs, but there have been lots of pets at the president's house over the years, including Rebecca the raccoon, who definitely left her mark on the place during Calvin Coolidge's presidency.

Martin Van Buren May Have Had The Cheesiest First Day Of Any U.S. President (Cool Weird Awesome 463)

Some presidential inauguration days are memorable; others are quiet. But the one for Martin Van Buren was probably cheesy, thanks to a giant cheddar sent to Andrew Jackson and a public party to eat it just before Van Buren moved into the White House. (Appropriately enough, today is also National Cheese Lover's Day.)

By |2021-01-20T08:28:28-05:00January 20, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Jimmy Carter Vs. The Swamp Rabbit (Cool Weird Awesome 280)

Well, that's no ordinary rabbit! That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! It’s Monday, April 20th, a very odd anniversary in the history of [...]

Gerald Ford Stayed In His Own House, Not The White House, After He Became President (Cool Weird Awesome 239)

Since 1800, presidents have made the White House their home base. But there have been a few times when new presidents took office unexpectedly and the world's most powerful address wasn’t yet available to them. For Gerald Ford in 1974, that meant he spent the first 10 days of his presidency living at his family home in Alexandria, Virginia.

By |2021-06-28T12:22:23-04:00February 17, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

When New Year’s Meant Going To The White House To Shake Hands With The President (Cool Weird Awesome 206)

For years, on New Year’s Day, Americans could go the White House and shake hands with the president. It's a tradition that went back to John Adams and the early days of the Executive Mansion. Plus: starting the new year by ending an old relationship? Meet the Breakup Lightbulb!

By |2024-01-01T10:29:38-05:00January 1, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Abraham Lincoln, Wedding Planner (Cool Weird Awesome 162)

Today in 1800 President John Adams moved into the White House, the first chief executive to live in what was then called the President’s Mansion. One of the house's most adorable stories - though possibly an apocryphal one - is the time in 1862 that Abraham Lincoln supposedly helped a couple elope. Plus: the New England WizardFest gets underway this weekend in Massachusetts. Mischief managed!

By |2022-03-26T10:05:08-04:00November 1, 2019|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |
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